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Guthix
Guthix (pronounced /ˈɡʌθɪks/, GÙH-thicks ) was the god of balance and the last surviving member of the Naragi race. He was the first of the young gods to arrive to Gielinor, soon bringing in the goddess Seren and other races including the humans, sheep and elves. He believed in the concept of balance, and brought the aforementioned races - who had no concept of the gods and no inclination to either good or evil - to Gielinor to live in harmony with their surroundings and allowed them to make their own choices so the balance between good and evil would be maintained , although with the arrival of the gods, this plan failed. He was known to be a very serious and decisive being. He became a god at the end of a war between gods on his realm, which saw the deaths of all his friends and family. By killing the god Skargaroth, he ascended to godhood himself, after which he left his devastated world. Soon afterwards, he discovered Gielinor, and, astonished by its beauty, shaped it to his liking for mortals to live on it without interference from gods. He then populated the world and created runestones for its inhabitants to use, thus earning Gielinor the nickname RuneScape. He descended into a slumber, hoping to be forgotten by his worshippers, but other gods began to arrive in the following centuries, which eventually led to the breaking out of the God Wars. After four millennia of warring, Guthix awoke, ended the wars, and banished all gods, much to their followers' dismay. Nearly twenty-two centuries later, his cave was discovered and Guthix was murdered by the Zarosian Mahjarrat Sliske, shattering the Edicts he put in place after the God Wars. Powers and abilities with the help of the Stone of Jas.]] Guthix was an exceptionally powerful entity and one of the most powerful among all known young gods, which was likely a result of his prolonged contact with multiple Elder Artefacts and the ability to channel power through the Anima Mundi. With their aid, he was able to shape the world of Gielinor, which was an empty planet at the time he found it. When he first became a god, Guthix had the ability to open portals to travel to other worlds. He originally required Skargaroth's sword - an Elder Artefact - to do this, but eventually became powerful enough to open portals without it. He was also able to easily open many portals through which he banished the warring gods at the end of the Third Age. By this time, however, his powers had been amplified immensely through the use of various other artefacts, including the Stone of Jas, in the First Age. With the aid of the Stone, Guthix concentrated pure magic in chunks of rock, thus creating a vast, albeit finite, supply of runestones. Guthix could show other beings memories of his and is able to bestow power to dampen divine energy. Through the power of Anima Mundi, he could also create a magical wall that kept any gods to potentially threaten equilibrium from walking on a world, demonstrated by his creation of the 'Edicts of Guthix'. Like most if not all other gods, Guthix had the ability to communicate with his followers while asleep, as proven by his vision to Admiral Dracs Melrose to reform the Void Knights. History and Tenets of the Void Knights|quote = It is now five years since that night: in my dreams I saw the eye of Guthix fall on me – a warning of a future threat given – and was told that I must act.}} Additionally, he had some precognitive abilities and powers over time, able to slow and presumably speed up its passing at will. Although he was a Naragi, Guthix was a skilled shapeshifter, able to take the form of anything he desired. He has stated himself that he would be able to take on any appearance as people could imagine him. He was believed to take the form of a butterfly when he first arrived on Gielinor. When he brought humans to Gielinor, he assumed the form of one himself so as not to frighten them. Additionally, the massive door sealing and the cave wall preceding the Ancient Guthix Temple portray him as a skull with tendrils. His massive power allowed him to leave his body at will - while this could have potentially saved him from death, he chose to die instead in a final act of hoping to be forgotten. Bandos acknowledged Guthix as the world's guardian, and stated in his memories that he was indeed a powerful god, having to stop the Gods war on his own. Bandos, after meeting Guthix, did not attack and surrendered quickly when Guthix told him to leave. Guthix was able to teleport Bandos into the void in a split second when the god of war attacked. Beliefs }} stone circle, built in honour of the temple protecting the Stone of Jas.]] Guthix was the god of balance, and wished to have a world without gods, where mortals could live in peace and balance without their interference. Even so, he would have liked mortals to not fight in the name of the gods or even know of their existence. Despite him knowing this scenario was unlikely, it was still his wish and the reason he resorted to sleeping underground, hoping to be forgotten, being a god himself. The god was a benevolent entity who wished the best for mortals, thinking the best environment was one of balance. This would entail equal amounts of war and peace, chaos and order, nature and culture, et cetera. Likewise, he expected his followers to live in balance with their world and respect it. Guthix approved of morally evil acts if it would serve balance, so long as there would not be an excess of evil nor good is the truth. I willst take ANY action necessary to ensure balance upon mine plane, and as such, mine actions canst be deemed to be good or evil depending on howst they affect thee. In truth, they are neither - they art merely necessary."|issue = 16|url = http://services.runescape.com/m=rswiki/en/God_Letters_Issue_16|title = Guthix Dispels Rumours}} There is a common misconception about Guthix, which is that he was the god of peace or tranquillity. While this holds some truth, seeing that Guthix sought to create a world of balance where mortals could live in peace without the interference of gods, balance does not equal peace. Rather, he desires for peace to have an equal amount of war to counter it, as evidenced by the founding of the militant Void Knights to complement the pacifistic druids. Over the large amount of years that Guthix had retreated himself from the world, his wish for mortals to forget him was not a success. Even from Guthix's point of view, what he wished for the mortals was corrupted, reshaped or misinterpreted by some of his followers. Guthix did not want people to worship or follow him (desiring them to be free from gods), but this led to quite a divide between some of his teachings and of his closest and most devoted of followers such as Juna. After his death, his followers no longer worship him as a god and now follow his teachings. Some of his followers have known to become part of the Godless organisation, founded by the druid Biehn, where they believe as well that the world should be actively protected from the gods influence. Guthix's symbol, usually found on the clothing worn by his followers, is an iconisation of his tears and usually drawn in a shade of green. This symbol is said to have been invented by worshippers of Guthix, for the god himself did not wish to be worshipped. Given that it represents his tears, the symbol must have been created in the early Fourth Age. However, much older murals in Guthix's Cave depict Juna, an ancient Guardian of Guthix, donning the symbol as well, suggesting it to have different origins. History During the Naragi God Wars Guthix was a Naragi native to a realm consisting of platforms resting on branch-like substances, where his race lived as peaceful farmers, craftsmen, hunters and light sculptors. Given their average lifespans, he must have been many centuries old. Guthix had a wife named Fraji and daughter named Aagi, both of whom he loved dearly, although Fraji died while Aagi was young. When Aagi was a couple of centuries old, still a child by Naragi standards, father and daughter paid visit to a nomad who told them of a magical disturbance, speculated to be a portal in the process of opening itself, appearing near the great city of Askroth. The diviners had begun assembling a welcoming committee for whomever would come through and indeed the portal soon opened. his memories|npc = Guthix|quote = The nomad told us about a magical disturbance near Askroth. The diviners were ecstatic; saying that it had opened up whole new lines of research. The most popular theory was that it was a portal, and that it was yet to fully open.}} A young god named Saradomin arrived with his armies and claimed ownership of the world. The Naragi did not submit themselves to his rule, to which he responded by attacking them in fury for being defied, razing Askroth to the ground. A war broke out on the once peaceful world. Most Naragi fled to refugee camps to escape Saradomin's wrath, who attacked the various cities from his fortress built on the ruins of Askroth. Some Naragi, such as Narix, fought back, while others sought to make compromises. her journal|quote = There has been unrest within the refugee camp - some have been following Narix, who suggests we take arms and fight back. Others have been following Nakigi, who believes both sides are to blame for this war, and a compromise should be reached with Saradomin.}} Guthix resisted the temptation of sending Aagi away as well, reasoning that the refugees would soon have no place to go. Therefore he hid her in the storm cellar of his own house, hoping for her to be safe. his memories|npc = Guthix|quote = I considered sending her away with the refugees, more of whom left each year, but they were running out of places to go.}} Years after Saradomin's arrival, when other gods had begun to participate in the war, Guthix witnessed how the mindless and savage goddess the Naragi named Tuska, controlled by an army of purple, hairy monsters they called airut, broke through a portal and entered the Naragi world. There, she proceeded to attack Saradomin, who had since begun to regret his actions and attempted to defeat her to save the Naragi. The airut invaded swiftly, while Tuska destroyed everything in sight. After some time, during which most of the Naragi race had been annihilated, even Saradomin left the realm in fear of Tuska. By this time, the war had lasted centuries, and many gods had either fled like Saradomin or met their deaths. Ascension to godhood At one point, Tuska approached Guthix's home and the two stood face-to-face. Before she could do anything, however, her enemy god Skargaroth plunged his sword, an Elder Artefact, into her eye. The airut flocked around Skargaroth as their goddess duelled him. During the skirmish, Skargaroth was thrown off his feet. To Guthix's absolute horror, the god landed on top of his house, destroying it and killing Aagi, who was still inside. In shock, the Naragi picked up the sword Skargaroth had dropped and used it to gouge out Tuska's remaining eye as she was charging at her unconscious opponent. The blinded goddess howled and ran away, followed by her airut. As Skargaroth regained consciousness and attempted to crawl away, Guthix plunged the sword into his back killing the god, which then transferred his power into Guthix himself, who became what he had always feared and despised. With his friends and family dead and his world in ruins, Guthix used the sword to cleave open portals to various locations in the multiverse and set out to travel in sorrow. Over the course of several centuries, Guthix visited many different realms and encountered several races whom he admired for their balanced lives, tending towards neither good nor evil. He visited Renmark, a "world of divine beauty and fabulous magic" and was inspired by how four courts of the seasons were in conflict but was a perfect balance. He soon discovered a parasite and in his arrogance, attempted to destroy it, but the parasite survived and Guthix ended up destroying Renmark. Guthix would only discover a few remnants of Renmark, which gave him great remorse. On one occasion, he visited the world of the elves, where he befriended their crystalline goddess Seren, who shared his views of balance to an extent. Shaping Gielinor Eventually, Guthix was drawn to the planet Gielinor, the Elder Gods' final and perfect creation, and is said to have arrived there in the form of a multicoloured butterfly. He was taken aback by its serenity and lush environment as well as by the fact that it was empty. On Gielinor, he found more Elder Artefacts: the horn, staff and even the Stone of Jas. Using these items, he shaped the world as it is known today and claimed ownership of it, desiring for it to be inhabited by mortals living in balance. his memories|npc = Guthix|quote = Many of the elders' artefacts were here - a staff, a horn, a stone - but I knew their power and kept them hidden. This world was not solely for me. This was a world to be shared with races most deserving...}} He then invited Seren to come to Gielinor and live with him. An elf|quote = The dawning of our race was a timeless period, so rapt were we with our home and our goddess, but all changed when the green god - Guthix - visited our world. He invited us to join him on a journey to a perfect world.}} Although some elves were initially reluctant, they followed their goddess through the World Gate and were amazed by Gielinor's nature as well. They settled in Tirannwn, where Seren aided them in the construction of the crystal city Prifddinas. She and Guthix would spend a significant amount of time together. Guthix desired for Gielinor to be inhabited by peaceful mortals. As such, he used the World Gate, or the Portal of Life as he called it, to bring colonies of cats, dwarves, ents, gnomes, humans, and sheep, amongst others, to the world. He greeted them as they arrived and instructed them to live in balance with the world. He gifted the humans with magic by using the Stone of Jas to create runestones, which he had spread by emissaries as Misalionar. These runes eventually caused the name "Gielinor" to fall into disuse as its inhabitants began to call it RuneScape instead. Jack|loc = Meeting History|quote = has created countless numbers of runes, storing them all over the place, so, soon after their discovery, the world was dubbed RuneScape. We were initially calling it Gielinor, but, like many things of importance, different people call it by different names.}} The human druids developed magic and many spells, thus becoming the first wizards. Inevitably, the inhabitants of RuneScape, most notably the humans, began worshipping Guthix as their god, building temples and making sacrifices in his name, much to his disgust. As such, he gradually began appearing less, hoping to disappear from his worshippers' lives. Approximately four thousand years after populating Gielinor, he decided to leave altogether. his memories|quote = My appearances have grown fewer and fewer. My final disappearance would have no fanfare. They could not sustain my cult forever if I withdrew all evidence of my existence. I would sleep in my hidden dwelling until they forgot me.}} He confided his intentions to Seren, and asked her to leave with him. Although she promised him to do so, she found herself unable to comply and leave her elves and so remained in Tirannwn. Guthix, on the other hand, buried himself deep underground, where he fell into a sleep, desiring to be completely forgotten by the Gielinorians, ending the First Age. An elf|quote = So when Guthix set out to remove the influence of gods from the mortal races and bid Seren join him, her heart was torn. But her love for us was strong, and she chose to stay, promising the green god that she would join him in fullness of time.}} Sometime during the Second Age, Guthix found a grove teeming with anima and tasked Solak with guarding it from anyone who would try to use it for their own gain. First awakening }} As Guthix slept and Seren remained secluded beyond the Galarpos Mountains, RuneScape began to attract other gods, who did not share their beliefs about balance and peace. Saradomin and Zaros rapidly conquered territory and the latter would establish the largest empire the world would ever know. Other notable gods to be active were Armadyl, Tumeken and Bandos - the god of war itself. Over the course of the Second Age, there were many conflicts as the gods' followers clashed and Zaros expanded his vast empire. Guthixians began to decline in number and even his runestones were becoming scarce. However, a Fremennik seer discovered the Stone of Jas in a mine and learnt the art of runecrafting, which led to a schism in Fremennik society. At the end of the age, Zaros was betrayed by his general, Zamorak, using the Stone and the Staff of Armadyl, and disappeared from the world, while the latter became a god himself. He declared war on Saradomin in an attempt to reobtain the Stone, which had been confiscated from him, which started the Third Age, and a god war. ' old empire.]] The God Wars would last for four thousand years and they saw the deaths of millions, the extinction of multiple races and the annihilation of many settlements on the RuneScape. The Guthixian gnomes and most of the dwarves were forced to hide underground to escape the war. Other Guthixians, such as moss giants, Fremennik and the Void Knights, fought in the wars, but they were but a minority. Most of the elves remained safe with Seren, although some chose to fight as well. At the end of the wars, Zamorak somehow obtained the Stone of Jas, but was cornered by Saradomin, Armadyl and Bandos. In what he thought to be his last stand, he tapped from the Stone and unleashed a wave of destruction over the area. As a result, the entire continent of Forinthry was obliterated and turned into a lifeless wasteland. So great was the destruction that scarred the land, that the Anima Mundi itself is said to have cried out in agony, thus waking Guthix after six millennia of slumber. Upon awakening, Guthix witnessed a scene not dissimilar from the Naragi God Wars, with gods and their followers fighting in the aftermath of Zamorak's actions. In fury and grief, he intervened, taking the Stone and using it to create portals, through which he banished the fighting gods out of RuneScape with relatively little effort, being stronger than them. Zamorakian spirit|loc = Spirit Realm|quote = But that's when Hugixt took it away! ... But then he awoke and disrupted it all! Green! The red path had fallen in the shadow of blue wings, but all knew what had to be done! The crossroads would be intertwined into one and the struggle would cease!}} his memories|quote = The stone had made me more powerful than them. It was easy for me to open portals and cast them out of my world.}} After removing the gods from the world, Guthix took a massive sword and plunged it into the crater left by Zamorak's destruction of Forinthry. Aided by the Stone, he erected a physical barrier around RuneScape, called the Edicts of Guthix, which prevented any god from setting foot on the planet again. He then returned to his chamber to recollect his thoughts and sorrow of what happened, only to be then visited by the adventurer from the future to seek aid from Guthix on reconstructing Seren. After the adventurer left, he went to Seren and sorrowfully ordered her to leave as well. Seren could not leave her elves as doing so would result in the elves becoming fatally ill, she informed Guthix of this and decided that while she would leave, it would not be with Guthix. As such, she sorrowfully shattered herself, exploding in many pieces of crystal. Guthix returned to his slumber afterwards, crying at the atrocities he had seen. An elf|quote = Even still, with sadness and shame in her heart, she would not abandon us completely. She instead chose to wane, exploding in a shower of light and crystal, scattering herself throughout the forest. The green god wept - believing her to be gone - and then he left.}} He then after visited Bandos in his throne room and ordered the god to leave. Bandos agreed to leave peacefully until Guthix denied him from taking his followers. As Bandos aimed to attack Guthix, Guthix rose his hand and teleported Bandos into the void. He allowed Brassica Prime and the six demi-gods of the Menaphite Pantheon to remain, either because they played a vital part in balancing life or were not a threat to him. To prevent any further abuse, Guthix hid the Stone of Jas deep underground and created a powerful balance elemental to protect it. The cave was sealed by druids, who built a massive temple around it, with the world's first stone circle. As Guthix was leaving the cave, he wept for the damage done to his planet, and the surrounding rocks began to cry with him. Out of his most loyal followers, Guthix proceeded to appoint several Guardians of Guthix, whom he tasked with various important tasks and granted immortality as well. For instance, Juna was to protect his tears, which held great magical power, and Fiara was to guard the location where the Stone of Jas had been kept by Saradomin, due to the residual energy left there. All business done, Guthix retreated into a cave to sleep once more. The Guardian Cres was tasked with protecting said cave and erecting barriers around it. Assassination In desperate attempts to nullify the Edicts and return their gods to RuneScape, various gods' followers began to search for Guthix' refuge at the dawn of the Fourth Age. Most notably the Mahjarrat desired to bring back Zamorak or Zaros, but the god proved unfindable, causing the hunt to eventually cease. elsewhere.}} This changed in 169 of the Fifth Age, one of the most turbulent years in RuneScape's history. That year, a down-on-his-luck natural historian in employment of the Varrock Museum, Orlando Smith, discovered what he correctly suspected to be Guthix' refuge in central Kandarin. However, he was unable to open the door concealing the cave. The devious Zarosian Mahjarrat Sliske found out about this and alerted his fellow Zarosian kin, who formed the plan to wake and negotiate Zaros' return with Guthix. The cunning Sliske pretended to go along with their decision, but, having secretly obtained the Staff of Armadyl, actually harboured other plans. Meanwhile, Orlando hired an accomplished adventurer to accompany him into the cave, the door of which they were strangely able to open. Inside, they discovered a smorgasbord of ancient artefacts, including the shattered sword Guthix had slain Skargaroth with. The adventurer inadvertently set off a security mechanism, activating a silent alarm, which caused the Sword of Edicts in the Wilderness Crater to send distress signals to all the stone circles of the world, and also woke up Guthix himself. It also triggered the release of Cres' security automatons, who detected a Mahjarrat life form in the cave and, thinking it to be Orlando and his companion, killed the former before attacking and being defeated by the latter. Sliske then revealed himself and told the adventurer about the alarm and how various factions would soon arrive to kill Guthix. Concealed in the Shadow Realm, they observed Zemouregal finding out about the discovery through dark wizards from the Varrock stone circle. He then advised the adventurer to side with the Guthixians to defend Guthix from all factions, then aid the Zarosians once they would reach him. He then left as the first enemies, Commander Zilyana and Kree'arra, made their entrance. After a battle that marked the departure of Kree, the adventurer met with the Guardians of Guthix, who arrived to protect their god with several druids. Together, the party progressed through the cave and met with Cres in the central chamber, where the adventurer was made a Guardian by Guthix as well. From there, they positioned themselves to counter the incoming attacks on the four storage wings. With great effort, they managed to send the Bandosian and three Zamorakian factions packing. Zilyana and her army of Saradomin invaded at that point and, while keeping the other Guthixians distracted, attempted to kill Juna, who was guarding the seal leading to Guthix himself. The adventurer protected her, but Zilyana, who had been duelling Cres, killed the automaton, mistaking him for Guthix. As he fell, the Zarosian faction - minus Sliske - arrived, having trailed the Saradominists, thus avoiding detection. An argument arose between the Saradominists, Guthixians and Zarosians and the adventurer was forced to pick a side. As they did so, Sliske broke the seal to Guthix in the Shadow Realm and went after the god. The adventurer, unaware of the invader's identity, went after him while under attack of the opposing factions. They found themselves in front of Guthix, when Sliske appeared and mortally wounded the god using the Staff of Armadyl before teleporting away. The dying Guthix took his newest Guardian into his memories of the Naragi world and recounted his life story to them. He granted them additional powers to serve as World Guardian, protecting RuneScape from the incoming gods. He stated that the massive amounts of power he had as a god disrupted balance and desired for a mortal to serve as the protector of equilibrium, admitting he had wanted to die for millennia, and he deliberately allowed Sliske to kill him despite being able to stop it at any time. He granted the adventurer immunity to divine magic and tasked them with protecting Gielinor from the gods before he died. With Guthix's death, his Edicts fell as well, literally raining down upon the world. In the cave, the people present observed Guthix' petrified body in shock as Saradomin himself arrived after more than two thousand years of absence. Legacy After the death of Guthix, the abolishment of his Edicts allowed the gods to return to RuneScape starting a new age, the Sixth. As is customary upon a god's death, his energy was dispersed around the world and manifested itself in solid form. His power, along with some memory fragments, also materialised as energy wisps and the ensuing turmoil resulted in damage to the Anima Mundi, which caused energy rifts to bleed out its life force into the world. A few human researchers soon found about this and discovered how to harvest energy from the wisps and return it to the Anima Mundi, hoping to heal the damage. The Anima Mundi seemed to mourn his death as the trees themselves manifested crying faces on their trunks. Meanwhile, Kaqemeex, leader of the druids of Taverley, announced the death of Guthix to the world in addition to spreading his wish not to be worshipped. Most druids agreed to stop worshipping him and to spread his teachings instead, and they held a tribute to Guthix. Others, however, were unable to accept his wish and left the order. One of these druids, Biehn, founded an organisation he called the Godless, a name invented by his friend, the famous heroine Kara-Meir. Its members strive to protect Gielinor from the gods, true to Guthix's life goals. A few months after Guthix's death, Saradomin and Zamorak clashed in the Battle of Lumbridge as they sought to obtain the divine energy Guthix's death had spread over the world. The battle ended with the latter's defeat as Saradomin massively empowered himself using the collected energy. References Main:Divine Beings